Thursday, May 27, 2010

My friend Lindsay is in town for a few days, and we have been experimenting in the kitchen like crazy! So far, we've made macaroons and black bean dip. Neither of which looked spectacular, so no pictures, but they tasted AMAZING! Tonight we thought it would be a good idea to try out raw, or at least semi-raw semi-vegan recipes. And we found...FUDGE!

We found the recipe here! Thank you, Wasabimon! So cute, I love gluten-free blogs :]

Melt the coconut butter, stir the wet ingredients in with the dry, and mix! We then softened some almond butter and swirled it in, along with some of the leftover macaroon pieces that I just randomly threw in.

SO. GOOD.

It began to solidify as the coconut butter cooled, and then the addition of warm almond butter melted it all over again! We almost couldn't wait to let it cool, but we poured it into an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer to set. Result: Fudge that tasted strongly of cocoa, but with maple, and melted in our mouths!

Okay, I absolutely had to post that recipe, but now back to a paper due tomorrow (today, oh no!)...

Happy Monday! Just kidding, please don't virtually slap me. Well, today started with me oversleeping Latin class, throwing on whatever exercise clothes I had that were clean, and heading off to my 1 p.m. lecture on the political, economic, and social craze that was 1989. Starting with an all-too-brief discussion of Tiananmen Square. Have you read The Forbidden City by William Bell? Well that should give you an idea...ANYWAY, on to the rest of the day.

Probably ate too much oatmeal last night (hello seven hour drive back to school with barely any food), and woke up feeling rather discontented. Seems to be a trend with oatmeal, I rarely feel good after eating it. Non-certified gluten-free oats anyway. So perhaps the best plan is to avoid them for a while until I can find them without possible contamination. So this morning I decided to get rid of them. How? FACE MASK TIME! Now what they don't tell you is that if you aren't particularly skilled at home beauty products, like me (dabbled in homemade lip balm and lotion as a kid), oatmeal mask = cement. So here I am, with a mixture of weak coffee, lemon juice, liquid whey from the yogurt, oatmeal, and a small amount of milk turning my face into a construction site. Awesome.

Please tell me why the mound of cement paste on my face adds like a bazillion pounds to it? Cool. Not sure when to wash this off...

So after waking up in an irritated mood, not being able to find my other pair of skinny jeans, and missing Latin, I wasn't too eager to eat or drink anything except a nice pot of coffee. I know, I know, stop drinking coffee around noon, or at least by 2 p.m., but give me a break today. Hold on, give me a minute to wash the paste off my face, it's starting to get really hard! Oh boy.

Okay, so face is nice and smoothy smooth, after having to wash that off with a SPONGE. Clean of course. I would have preferred to just be able to EAT the oats, but hey, at least I didn't waste them!

So along with my pot of coffee, nourishment today has consisted of a Fuji and fifteen pushups. I do pushups every time I want to eat something, to determine whether or not I'm actually hungry. I'd do the glass of water thing, but I already drink like 289238473927 cups of tea a day anyway. So if I am legitimately hungry, I eat something and just have stronger arms/shoulders/etc.

Update on metatarsalgia. Which is officially the devil. Pain in my foot is gone (as it should be, after 2400 prescribed mg of Ibuprofen a day for ten days), for the most part, but I'm scared to jump back into running too soon. So no running for me for the next three weeks, until I'm out for summer! Hello nightmare. Sidenote...my face is now tingling pleasantly! I hope that's okay...

So instead of running, I go crazy. I guess I'll be the most intense fan of The Fitnessista's elliptical workouts, not that I wasn't her biggest fan before! I know I currently have no readers, but one day I will, so CHECK HER OUT!

The rest of the day: ZUMBA! I missed last week's class because I went home for a Crohn's and Colitis awareness walk (my friend was diagnosed this year), and her Monday class is one behind my usual Friday sesh. It's totally packed, but she said that as long as I only do this ONCE, it's okay. So here goes, Zumba TWICE this week :] Then some pilates, just a half hour DVD.No more coffee. And oh yeah, the group paper for Psycholinguistics. Shoot me now. Just kidding, I guess I just need to sit down and write it.

Looking forward to the days when I can just run whenever I want! Soon!

PEACE AND BLESSINGS (find Tracy on YouTube. Some people should NOT have webcams.)

-Courtney :]

edit// threw in another Fuji, & a small banana with almond butter and cinnamon (cinnamon goes on EVERYTHING). Don't you hate when nothing sounds appetizing?

...& pilates may not happen, seeing as I'm still sore from weights this weekend, and Zumba was HARSH today! Dinner should be an eggbeater omelette with mixed greens, avocado, and salsa. Still haven't started my paper. Score.Dessert: fifteen more pushups & a Fuji with almond butter and cinnamon. Some days, I just have to give up a diverse diet for the only things I can tolerate.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

First post! I guess this is a significant moment in time, or something like that, but all I can think about is how to sound interesting and amusing and intelligent and insane all at the same time, instead of working on the Latin translation about Demosthenes or writing a review paper for Psycholinguistics.

Here are the basics:

+ I'm a runner. Straight up. I wear Mizuno Wave Inspires (loves of my life much?), and yes, my quad muscles are a bit freaky. I started running after high school graduation (oh so long ago) and I never looked back. My parents have four marathons apiece to their names, and I guess you could say I'm determined to beat that. I've got one under my belt: Rock N Roll Mardi Gras 2010! Oh, to be nineteen in New Orleans. I want to run an ultramarathon, maybe Western States, by the time I'm twenty-five. I have never found something more dear to my heart, ask anyone, it's all I really think about! Love it.

+ LOVELOVELOVE Disneyland! You know the story of Peter Pan? Refusal to grow up? Well, I've modified it. I've grown up enough to have a car and go to college and spend my Friday nights/Saturdays at Disneyland instead of at frat parties. So I guess I've grown up enough to have no interest in partying, but not enough to abandon the teacups!

+ Gluten-sensitive. It hasn't been officially diagnosed, all I know is that any form of gluten makes me sick. Can't keep weight stable, can't keep mood stable. Have the urge to eat more and more, and wake up the next day feeling AWFUL. So despite the lack of official diagnosis, I just stay away. So far it's been working pretty well!

+ Cognitive Science major. Basically a mix of neuroscience and psychology, with linguistics, computer programming, and philosophy thrown in. I really can't get enough! The brain BEYOND fascinating, I could go on for days! But I won't....I'd get cut off eventually. Not so strong in the Computer Science department, but I'm learning! Java, you displease me.

+ Getting back into pilates and yoga, and just started ZUMBA! My heart stays with running, and hopefully always will, but I'm currently injured (hello metatarsalgia & wayyyy too much Ibuprofen by the prescription of my cute doctor) so I'm looking for ways to exhaust myself that don't make it worse. Excuse the common stereotype, but I'm a white girl. I CAN'T SHAKE IT! But I'm learning, and getting to dance to Jai Ho and Shakira doesn't hurt...

+ Team in Training. Forever. I rock the obnoxious combination of green and purple because every step I take is a reminder of the people I run for. Those would give anything to be able to run. For those of you who don't know, TNT is a major fundraising group of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We raise thousands of dollars, and in return get to travel around the country for endurance events. We run marathons, half marathons, do triathalons and century rides, and are an amazing, dedicated family.

I run for Michelle Maykin, who fell to leukemia on July 25, 2009, but is with me every step of the way.

The daily insanity of a green eyed college student who began running after high school and never looked back! Loves marathons with Team in Training, and experimenting in the kitchen. Disneyland obsession. Gluten-free and still trying to figure it all out!